We are in the very early days for finding the profit-maximizing prices for ebooks. If publishers stand in the way of experimentation, someone else will find the sweet spots (I don't expect there to be just one). I read of a mystery author recently whose sales went up 20x by dropping the price from $3 to $1. The additional profits of finding the optimal price could be enough to offset the publisher's advantages.

It's an interesting dog fight, if you don't have a dog in it. As an author, though, it looks mighty risky.